Jug and Mugs raided, closes

The owner of Jugs and Mugs, a Madison Avenue bar in Albany’s Pine Hills neighborhood, shuttered the business and relinquished its liquor license after a multi-agency raid Friday found the bar packed at three times its capacity and that minors had been served alcohol.

Owner David Cardona, who opened Jugs and Mugs in September, told me he had an agreement to sell the business to another operator, whom he declined to name, and the new owner had been running the bar in recent months. But a lease was not yet signed, he said, and Cardona’s name remains on the liquor license, according to State Liquor Authority records.

After Cardona was notified about Friday’s raid and the resultant charges, he closed the business and voluntarily gave up the liquor license, he said.

“When I found out they were letting kids in there, I said, ‘That’s it. It’s closed,’ ” Cardona said. “I wasn’t running it, but my name is still on it, and I’m liable for it.”

Cardona said he signed a no-contest plea to all the charges today and expects to pay a fine. An SLA spokesman said the agency’s board will decide on the fine and possible other consequences at a future meeting. Voluntarily relinquishing a license does not affect pending charges, the spokesman said.

The SLA said Jugs and Mugs — which has a maximum occupancy of 50 people — had about 150 patrons on Friday night. More than 50 of those were minors, the agency said.

Statements were taken from 28 minors; 18 of them said they bought drinks at the bar and the other 10 said other patrons supplied them, the SLA said. Jugs and Mugs was charged on Monday with 20 violations, including selling to minors, having unlicensed bouncers and failing to supervise its premises.

Opened in August at 849 Madison Ave., Jugs and Mugs drew criticism for its name and failed to attract business for its eclectic food.

“The neighbors told me it wouldn’t work, and they were right,” Cardona said.

He converted it to a sports bar with the same name, then decided to sell and closed for weeks in December and January. Cardona said the bar reopened under the new owner in February. Since a new lease with the building’s owner was never signed, Cardona said he is responsible for it through its full term, which expires in February. He said he is unsure what he will do with the space but was adamant the name and business model will not be revived.

22 Responses

I doubt they included the words “college bar” in any of the applications filed with the City of Albany and/or the SLA. Regrettably, its successor will be no different, considering the neighborhood demographics.

““The neighbors told me it wouldn’t work, and they were right,” Cardona said.”

Wow. Who’da thunk that the people who live in a particular area know what is/isn’t good for their neighborhood/community? Maybe listening to the neighbors instead of shouting them down as 1) not knowing what they’re talking about and 2) being unwilling to change with the times leads to successful relations and business?

The place was a dump, inside and outside. The establishment was opened with very little thought put into it. Cheap restaurant issue chairs/tables, ugly wooden bar, horrible food in the “Guy Fieri” mode. Just because it was a college bar, does not mean that it had to be lowlife, which it was. It was nothing more than a big blemish on the neighborhood. Good riddance.

Police should look the other way when college students (adults) are in a bar drinking. Better there than in some house party. The penalties for underage drinking are just onerous, and do not fit the crime.
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When college students (adults) get caught drinking, the only winners are lawyers.

My mother does not drive in Albany, or after 4 pm, so no worries there Al K. Just because people are drinking in a bar, it does not automatically mean each person there will drive from there with a .15 BAC. I think college students (adults) have the right to blow off some steam after a semester getting a world-class education in one of our local colleges.
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People who object to college students (adults) drinking in a bar are full of righteous indignation, when they were and when I was that age, the law was 21 but was not enforced like it was a crime against humanity. 19-year-olds drinking is against the law, but hardly a sin.
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Lawyers love it when these laws are enforced stronger than say, possession of heroin, because parents will pay top dollar to get the misdemeanor knocked down to a sealed record and protect their kids chances at getting a job. Lawyers make squat off of the heroin user, they have no cash (except for a fix).
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Except in countries were the Islamic religion dominates the landscape and alcohol is banned, we are the only nation in the world with a 21-year-old drinking age. Something tells me the world is right and our laws are wrong.

JG is correct. I was able to walk into a bar and drink legally at age 18, and binge drinking among teens was certainly no more prevalent than it is today….in fact it may have been less prevalent. The 21-year old drinking age was a mandate by the Federal government to blackmail states by reducing their aid if their laws failed to conform to that requirement (along with the 55 mph speed limit and mandatory seat belts, the latter being the only reasonable regulation of the three). It was passed in summer of 1984, when Ronald Reagan was President.

First, the rule was imposed during the Reagan administration. How about that, all you right-wing types who think the government makes too many rules and Reagan was the greatest head of state since Charlemagne? The right is responsible for “blackmail”.

Second, do you think NYS should raise its drinking age and forfeit all the “aid” it gets from the Feds because it enforces the lower age?

Actually the operation was badly run…..obvioulsy….
Letting some idiot operate on a license you own is
pathetically stupid…..
And a well managed place does not have to become a drunken College brat hangout…..Ask Micheal Byron, at The Ginger Man…..

I thought the place was closed. I wonder why everyone thinks nothing but a college bar could make it in that space. The Gingerman has existed for decades just steps away from the Washington Tavern and Professor Barley’s. It would be nice if a more mature pub or restaurant would open and last in that area.

When the law went from 18 to 21 to drink legally, bar owners in college towns got screwed. It went from approx. 50% of freshman could drink legally, and all sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Then it went to 0%
freshman,0% sophomores, 0% juniors, and 50% seniors drinking legally. Unless you were a real dummy in high school and ended up being a 21 year old college freshman.

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